San Diego Among Least Toxic Big Cities In America

A list of America's most toxic cities ranks Los Angeles as one of the worst. Unlike its neighbor to the north, however, San Diego is one of the least toxic cities.

The list produced by Forbes Magazine ranked Atlanta as the most toxic city in the country. The city was ranked number one because of a combination of air pollution, contaminated land and atmospheric chemicals.

To determine which cities were most toxic, Forbes looked at the country's 40 largest metro areas.

Forbes counted the number of facilities that reported releasing toxins into the environment and the total pounds of certain toxic chemicals released into the air, water and earth.

The list also considered the days per year that air pollution was beyond healthy levels, and the total number of EPA Superfund sites.

Los Angeles ranked as one of the top 10 worst cities for toxicity.

Other California cities fared much better. Joining San Diego among the least toxic cities in the country were Sacramento and Riverside.

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Aired 11/4/09

A list of America's most toxic cities ranks Los Angeles as one of the worst. Unlike its neighbor to the north, however, San Diego is one of the least toxic cities.

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